balthazar

>>"We are screwed for a while no matter what."<< Agreed 100%, but there are different degrees of getting screwed, no?

Bonne is a '65, yes.

Croc, there's a mile between being "direct" and exercising a degree of tact. Allow me to 'boil it down' : >>"...what a hypocrite you've been... a little bit of personal maturity... without getting whiny... self-restraint... cannot handle... petty sniping... holding grudges is so negative and frankly obnoxious."<< Topping your post off with 'I really appreciate your creating this thread' does not mop up the...(ahem) bile listed above. I know 'that's how you see it', but I refer you again to note how it was received. >>"f@#k it. I'm done with this &#036;h&#33;. "<< ummm... .. ... is this an example of "a little bit of personal maturity" ???

I have a... sort of... Pontiac shrine on my bureau: the glass-faced dash emblem from a '46-47 with an Art Deco Indian Head inside it (about 5" in dia), a stainless 3-D Indian Head off the flanks of a '52-54, a 1903 Indian Head penny and a '23 Indian Head nickel.

>>"don't sell a car that goes 0-60 in 3.4 sec if the only way you can achieve this speed is to destroy the $20K transmission."<< fixed.

>>"2 B-pillars..."<< Show me a vehicle with only 1 B-Pillar. Oh- you meant 4. No; the second set would be the C-Pillars.

Well... let's all hope for a lo-oong 'The One' presidency (perhaps Bloomberg can help draft the end of term limits for BO), whence immediately, the milk & honey will begin flowing thru the streets, jobs will plentiful and enriching, where everyone's retirement accounts will swell alarmingly, where plentiful, renewable energy sources will all be online on every other corner in 3 or 4 weeks (and oil will be forgotten & worthless >shutuplassticsindustry!<), when the entire world's hunger & poverty will be ended via the American taxpayer's bottomless patriotism, and all the rogue madmen dictators of the world will text their permanent disarmaments & peace treaties to BO's cell on Jan 21st. {sighs dreamily} "Now is the time, this is the moment, we are the ones we've been waiting for." --BO Let the fainting begin anew Jan 20th as the "citizen of the world" saves us all.

I thought the Oil Cos were all behind their "buddy" Bush, yet it's the Dems who oppose drilling.

I agree that there are some screaming deals available, but the volitility is scary; makes for predicting a progressive linear return very difficult. What's going to emerge on the other side is very likely going to be very different as far as the big movers go. I made a good chunk off of Apple, but I feel discretionaries like Apple may lag behind a general upturn for a good span of time. I sold off what was in the black, but the ones I'm sitting on are deep in the red. I was planning on re-assessing this weekend, liquidating at a loss to free up the cash, taking the write off, and getting set to plunge back in soon. This is 'ground floor' beyond what anyone could hope for. One I was invested in was MASI (blood screening tech), which had an amazing ability to move counter to most DJA downturns.

>"How the hell is it politically charged?"<< As an investigative inquiry, their official business is only to determine the facts in the matter at hand. Coming out with a 'now you know who NOT to vote for' line is ridiculously biased; the presidential campaign has ZERO to do with Palin as governor firing a cabinet member. >>"She did not fire the jackass ex-brother-in-law, she fired the guy that she was pressuring to fire the ex-brother in law - an obvious abuse of power. "<< She fired the guy responsible for firing the a-hole trooper, because he refused to do so because 'he didn't see anything'. This is like a cop refusing to arrest a criminal because he didn't see him actually commit the crime. He failed to do his job. >>"...if she fired this man and her sister was NOT dating the trooper, would anyone be complaining?"<< Exactly right. No one could legitimately.

>>"I assume you'll be publishing a prompt retraction?"<< Perhaps you'll just edit my post for me. Again. Perhaps I can have an epiphany and 'see the light'; ALL my posts turning to fawning awe and borderline worship of the man Farakahn called "the Messiah", accepting every single stuttered word as nothing but truth, justice and the New Audacity Hope/Dream, where everyone can hold hands, floating an inch or 2 above the ground, singing & singing, wearing t-shirts with a large red & blue Fruit Loop on them.... Gosh, I feel like I'm going to f-faint....

>>"...it states that her efforts to get Wooten fired broke a state ethics law that bars public officials from pursuing personal interest through official action."<< What about pursuing public interests ?? How does leaving a murder-threatening, drunk-driving, child-tasering, no-permit hunting, 4-time divorcee thug on the street with a badge/gun serve the public? F*ck. If a superior (who was a police union co-member) fails to perform his duty as a public safety commissioner by firing this ass, then >>"Palin had the authority as governor to fire him"<< and so she justly did. 'Abuse of power' totally ignores the Wooten situation of the story. >>""I believe that these findings may help people come to a conclusion on how they should vote" in the presidential election, Elton said."<< Aaaaaaaaaand there we have it : unbiased, non-partisan, non-agenda motivated "investigation". Thanks for leaving it right out on the table.

>>"There could be antitrust questions raised..."<< With only 37% of the market ?? Business that slow at the DoJ ??

Reasonable & logical.

Why not? And aren't Buch & Cheney already in? How do they benefit directly? How does McCain?

Oh come on- those are nearly all superfluous reasons, but I don't really expect such things as idealogy, judgement or experience to be weighed seriously in these "modern" ADD times. As far as his education goes, anyone have any idea what any of his grades were; none of his transcripts have been released by him. I'll give you that BO's a very polished, almost snake-oil-esque speech receiter, but his stumbling & stammering off teleprompter do not convey any sense of convinction or clear-headed-ness. Can you just see a mid-east madman dictator, tilting his head quizzically, trying to follow his interpreter following BO ?? Also, all of his speeches, while well read, lack real substance. Agreed, but BO's only experience off your list is speech & law & Biden is having his own 'moments' (he's only 6 yrs behind McCain, don't forget), calling Bosnians "Bosniacs' and assuring one interviewer that Roosevelt got on TV to talk to the people about the Depression.

So who are McCain's "oil buddies", would they just get handed off from Bush come Jan?? $2.88 today for 87, drops every day.

GMTG got it- it's not the people; I'm a country boy myself (growing up, I lived in a township where the 2 nearest towns had about 2300 people)- it's just the distance between garages out there and not knowing the area beyond the wagon trail I take. Rural PA is beautiful- Jersey taxes may push me over the river at some point... Thought about renting.. but I also wasn't feeling up to the drive by myself this year...

You guys are misfocusing. No one is advocating drilling INSTEAD of alternative energy- there is support for alternatives but legislative opposition (primarily from the Dems) against drilling. The claim that new drilling won't get into the system until 2012 according to the oil companies (why the hell should it take 5 years draw up paperwork, more typical Dem work ethics at play...) ignores the fact that a 'replacement' alternative energy source will take much longer- there's almost zero infrastructure in place for any of them. Waiting for a world war to hit to start drilling is madness- the same sources still point to years before it's in the barrel. Drilling now WOULD help- that's exactly the sort of intangible the commodity markets roll on, regardless of the actual amount we're talking about (BTW, more than 1 organization has agreed it's a considerable quantity. I note that the article reduced the oil amount to a per day figure in a crystal clear attempt to minimize the quantity. May have fooled some people reading it, I suppose...). Why anyone in their right mind would OPPOSE any additional source of energy & energy independence in these times is beyond comprehension. Oh wait- is it because the Big Bad EEEVVVIILLL Oil Cos would have more oil to sell?? Want to 'make a difference' on a personal level here? Sell your damn car & bike for your groceries- that'll show XOM.

Love the analysis here, so logical; 'there's few people so they must all be corrupt'. I can't even conceive of a thought process that would take one to that conclusion. By the same token, a bustling heartland city like -say- Chicago must be immune from thugs, mobsters & politicians on the take.

As the 1 billionth example of how the economy is in the toilet, my buyer for the Murray Super Diesel pictured above backed out... so if anyone want's a perfect, 100% complete pedal tractor brand new in the box, it's available for $600 firm. You cannot restore one to this level- it's impossible to find all the little pieces (ignition key, decals, etc) anymore.

I can't F-ing go, my truck started making 'gear' noises sporadically this morning. Any of you who have made the drive know what PA looks like 40 miles west of the Delaware- rural to the 100th power. I cannot chance it. Someone be sure and get good pics of the Firebird Turbines for me. Gdamnit. I'll miss hanging with ya, Hudson.

>>"Yes I know the origins of "Barry" and when he went by that nickname, hence why I said "Barry instead of Barack". My question is, why do you call him that? It is a bit of a rhetorical question."<< Was it a nickname, or what it legal? Wasn't he adopted by his stepfather ?? Of course, it doesn't matter... which makes one wonder why we'll never know. To answer the question, it speaks well to his shielded personal history, and... it's fun. >>"Yes, Obama has similar appeal for me---he is closer to my age than McCain, very articulate, intelligent, a well-educated professional, computer literate and modern. McCain is of a time long ago past...he's of my mother's generation, an age group where people are enjoying retirement. He seems like a short tempered, mean old man out of touch with the modern world."<< Ironically, this criteria for chosing the leader of the free world (he's my age, can e-mail & I like his neckties) immediately reminds me of my 93-yr old grandmother's criteria for chosing Bill Clinton; 'He's so handsome'.

Oooo, you got me good with that one! Sharing a stage for 1 day with someone who doesn't condemn a 3rd, non-present party for a shooting IS exactly like spending years as co-board members, taking campagin advice & money, being neighbors in the other's houses, getting indoctrinated with poisionous ideals from the actual person who orchestrated multiple bombing campaigns for years against the police & the Pentagon. What a good, honorable, respected man Ayers is - God; how could I have been so blind?? Good one; I'll shut up now.

What reputation would that be ??? Didn't you & I already go over this: he went under that name growing up. Does anyone who supports him know anything about him personally ?? >>"McCain is not the man he claims to be. He wants to get into the white house so bad he's obviously willing to do anything to get in."<< Do you think BO is just out for an evening stroll here ??????? If anyone is not who he claims to be, it's BO. Tho that's a side-step: he's revealed almost nothing about himself and has denied what has come out. Don't forget- his is an "historic" bid we whites are duty-bound to elect to amend for our races' sins.